If you know me in real life, you would know that I love to make birthday cakes for my kids. Growing up, my mom always made us some of the best cakes, so I wanted to do the same for my kids. It started with an elaborate Winnie the Pooh cake when my 6 year old turned 1.
Jessica at Life as Mom is having a birthday cake round up today, so I thought I would show off (again) some of my cakes from the last year. She is really creative with her cakes (and has lots of experience, since she makes cakes for her 6 kids). Life as Mom has also compiled an e-book of her cakes called Pretty.Cool.Cakes, and the e-book is on sale now through Sunday night for only $2.00.
On to the cakes. This year, my 3 year old was obsessed with Curious George and my 6 year old loves WallE. The 6 year old does not like cake (only the frosting), so he requested a cookie cake.
As you can see, the WallE cake has some imperfections. The cookie cake fell apart when I pulled it from the pan (I probably should have let it cool another day), and the WallE buttercream transfer had a bit of a mishap when it fell out of my freezer and broke the glass. But, I patched things up, and I knew that my son would still think it was great (and he did). Don't worry about being perfect when you make cakes for your family. Just try for your best...and you'll learn over time.
Both of these cakes were made using a Buttercream transfer. It's actually really simple and it can be done ahead of time and placed on the cake right before you serve it.
All you need is a picture (printed in mirror image) from a coloring book or printed from online (I found mine on PBS Kids), a piece of glass, some chocolate, some frosting, and some decorator bags/tips.
Here are some other birthday cakes I've made over the years and here's a link to a post with my buttercream frosting recipe.
Additional resources for homemade birthday cakes:
- Coolest Birthday Cakes
- Wiltons' site - thanks Sabrina
Sorta Fairy Tale Mom
The Curious George one is too cute to eat.
Recent blog post: Birthday Cake Round-Up